Bonding
by Trevor the Enchanter
Summary: Vlad always felt that Jack had betrayed him. What if there was some truth in what he believed?


This is just a one-shot I thought of a few days ago. Again, it will help if you have read "Broken". It's in the same world. This really is a fascinating relationship to play with.

BTW, thanks for helping me with a scene or two I had some problems with, ghostanimal.

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"It's been close to two months, and I still can't believe this has happened." Jack moaned, burying his face in his hands. "It kills me to see V-man that way!"

"It's not easy for me, either, Jack." Maddie sighed, rubbing his shoulder. About two months ago, they had built a portal intending to get a look into the ghost world. However, things had not gone as planned and it blew up in Vlad's face, causing serious injury.

Soon after, he fell unconscious and was taken to the hospital. For a few days, they were not sure he was going to survive, since it was something almost no one had ever seen before. He had only woken up a few days, and when he did, he was in such intense pain that falling unconscious again was a mercy.

Vlad's parents had only visited once, and that was only to tell him they were suing the school. They tried to prevent Jack and Maddie from visiting him, since they despised them both, Maddie in particular. However, since Vlad was no an adult, they had no means of doing so.

For the first few days, they had spent most of their time hovering around his bedside, except when the doctors shoved them out, sometimes literally. Maddie cried her eyes out while Jack held her, sometimes not far from tears himself. The sight of Vlad looking that way, in such pain even when he was out, broke their hearts.

Over time, their visits became less frequent. They still had classes to pass, and their own lives to live. Also, it hurt a great deal to see him that way, knowing there was nothing they could do and feeling like it was his fault.

"All we can do is pray for his recovery." Jack sighed, rubbing his face. "I feel like this is my fault. You told me the calculations weren't correct, but I fired it up anyway! It's my fault he's like this! He's never going to forgive me!'

"You can't think that way, Jack." Maddie rebuked gently. "All of us knew the risks when we did this. There's so much we didn't know; none of us could have predicted this! He might be angry for a while, but he'll forgive you! You're his best friend!"

_Wow, she is beautiful! _Jack thought to himself. _Stop it! _Vlad had confessed to Jack about a month before the accident that he had feelings for Maddie, and at this point, was in love with her. He asked him to help with her feeling the same way and in gathering enough courage to ask her out.

By that time, Jack had started to develop feelings for her as well. Still, he decided to help Vlad. Jack had many friends, and there were plenty of people interested in him. It was easy for him to find someone; he had quite an active social life, even if he was frequently made fun of. Not to his face, since he was around 6'4 and over 300 pounds, much of it muscle.

Vlad and Maddie, on the other hand… their small group were the only people they hung out with. They had many long, personal discussions with one another. They never told Jack all the details, but their childhoods were not fun, considerably worse than he own. True, he complained about his parents as well, but that was just normal teenage stuff. Both of them went through far worse.

Unlike them, they never said much about it. When Jack asked Vlad, he simply responded with "What's the point? Nobody really cares anyway." He had gotten him to open up with a few things, but he still didn't know that much about it.

He knew more about Maddie's situation, mainly due to the fact that he helped Vlad rescue her from it. Her parents were the worst people he ever knew in his entire life. Her father abused her sexually and her mother didn't give a damn. She finally had enough courage to speak out, and neither of them were going to see the light of day for the next 10 years.

She told Vlad about it, but Jack didn't know a thing, except that it happened. If he had to guess, Alicia suffered that way as well. _That woman actually scares me. _

"Jack, did you hear a word I've said?" Maddie asked.

"No, I'm… sorry; I was thinking about Vlad." Jack replied. True, but not the whole truth. "I hope he recovers soon."

"So do I; wonder what he'd say if he learned I just achieved my blue belt in Karate." Maddie gave a small smile. She threw herself into her work and martial arts, trying to find a way to forget the pain. After coming close to giving someone a serious injury, she decided to calm down and take a break from it. The whole reason she started in the first place was that she wanted to protect herself.

"He'd probably say he was proud of you, and then feel jealous. Besides, weren't you teaching him some things?"

"Yeah, I was. He wasn't that bad, either."

"My life just seems a lot emptier without Vlad here. Course, a lot of people don't care, and many of the people who do know Vlad are happy about this. Why are they so damn heartless?"

"They don't know him as we do, but I really worry about him sometimes. There's a dark, angry side that he tries to keep hidden. I can see it, though. It's just getting worse."

"Yeah, he never seems to be able to catch a break, especially with this accident. Who knows what kind of vicious effects it's going to have on him? From what I do know, they are going to be permanent."

"We'll have to wait and see. I know it's not a good answer, but what can I tell you?"

"I think I'm going to work on some of those prototypes. If something has happened to Vlad, and he ends up dying, I want some way to honor his memory. Maybe I'm being insensitive, but I want it to mean something."

"Right now, I can't go anywhere near it. Everything there reminds me of Vlad." Maddie sniffed as Jack put an arm over her shoulder. He was half-hoping she'd push him away, but on the contrary, she snuggled into it.

_What are you, Jack? Remember what you told Vlad! _He screamed at himself, but was not able to let her go. They stayed on the bench, just talking about everything. "I'm glad I have you as a friend, Jack." Maddie told him. "Just been hard on me right now."

"There's a good restaurant I know about 10 minutes away. Want to go get something to eat?" She nodded and they walked. It was just a burger joint, nothing very fancy. Once they ordered and sat down, they started talking again.

"Wait, am I going to have to look at you while I eat?"

"Hey, I'm not that bad!" Jack protested.

"Yeah, just keep thinking that." Maddie shook her head. "You know, I noticed something weird at the hospital the last time I saw Vlad?"

"What was it?" Jack dived into his fries.

"God, Jack, you are disgusting. Anyway, for a second there, I thought his arm had been amputated. I looked away and gasped, but the next time I turned around, it was back. Am I just seeing things?"

"It all depends; how much sleep have you been getting?"

"Not much, I'm afraid. I'm busy with finals, and worrying about Vlad. Why did this happen to him? Why not me?"

"Can't second-guess ourselves. There's still a part of me that thinks I should have been more careful." Ever since the accident, Jack's feelings for Maddie had begun to grow. He had held off on them so far because of what Vlad told him, but he didn't know how much longer he would have the willpower to do so. "Don't forget to eat; need to keep up your strength."

"I know, Jack; I'm not a child. Neither are you, even if you act like one."

"Gee, thanks. Now I've got an idea for a new ghost weapon! True, we don't have enough ectoplasm, or any real means of getting some, for that matter. Still, may as well finish up the blueprints. It should only take a few days or so."

"Jack, I'm in no condition to work on ghost weapons right now. Everything there reminds me of Vlad. He's one of my best friends."

"He's mine too, Maddie. I wish we could take some time off of school to figure all of this out, but they won't let us. If you need any help, let me know."

"Thanks, Jack; you're a great guy." They finished the rest of their food in silence, and then left. They walked back to the dorms, Jack looking around warily. "Well, here's my dorm, and no, you can't go on another panty raid. I'm not going to be able to get you out of trouble again."

"Hey, it was fun. Even V-man had fun… once I pushed him into it."

"You're lucky you weren't expelled. You're too big to hide in my closet. Never knew you could run so fast."

"Hey, I had a good motivation." He was slowly moving close to her, his self-control slipping away.

"Hard to believe it's my last semester here. It was nice to leave everything behind, start somewhere new."

"Yeah, and all of us were able to come along." Vlad wasn't happy about his parents paying for everything, wanting to get there on his own merit. He did, having the best grades of the three, but they still insisted on it. He complained endlessly about it.

_Wow, was she always this beautiful? _Jack thought. _Hold it, Fenton; you promised Vlad! _She smiled at him, and hugged him tightly.

"I'm glad we didn't have to break apart." Maddie admitted. "You two are the best friends I've ever had. I don't know where I'd be without you."

"You promised Vlad, you promised Vlad…" Only too late did he realize that he was speaking out loud and that Maddie heard him.

"What did you promise him, Jack?"

_Oh, crap; come on, Fenton, think of something! _"I promised to help him meet people. You know he's not good at socializing."

"True, but your help doesn't seem to accomplish much. Remember what happened with a girl you tried to set him up with at a party?"

"Yeah, I do, but I was trying to help. I wish you decided to come; it was a lot of fun."

"Sure, watch a bunch of morons get drunk and fondle each other. Jack, you know why I can't go to those things!"

"I'm sorry, Maddie."

"Don't be; I just… try not to think about it."

Jack felt his knees weaken as she looked at him. He felt his resolve breaking, and he moved close. Before he knew it, his lips were on hers, his arms pulling her into a tight embrace. After a few seconds, he let her go, his eyes wide.

"Look, I…. I have to go. I'll see you later." Maddie ran as fast as her legs could carry her, leaving Jack to his thoughts.

_What the hell did you do, Fenton? _Jack cursed himself. _You told Vlad you would help set him up with Maddie, and you kiss her while he's unconscious! What kind of friend are you? _He walked to his dorm with his hands in his pockets, shaking his head.

X X X X X X X X X X

The next day, Jack visited Vlad, who was still unconscious. He moaned in pain, turning to the side. He looked at the morphine drip, and the still-glowing acne. "Vlad, I have a confession to make." Jack sighed. "I made a huge mistake. I was talking to Maddie, and somehow…. I ended up kissing her. She ran off as fast as she could. Know I shouldn't have done, but at least you don't have me as competition. I'll make this up to you, V-man, no matter what it takes!"

He sat there by his bedside, talking about various things that were going on. "Maddie's really worried about you, you know? All of us have been. I can't believe your parents have only been in here once! Anyway, I have some new ideas for ghost weapons I want to run by you! Come on, Vlad, wake up! It's killing me to see you this way!"

Jack got up and started pacing; he did that frequently when he was here. Upon turning around, he saw the lower half of Vlad disappear. He blinked and then saw it clearly. _I must be imagining things. There's no way V-man body disappeared into thin air!_

"I even stopped playing football! I just couldn't deal with it, Vlad! You were in this room, fighting for your life, and some of them were even making fun of you! The kind of things they were saying; I never believed any of it, Vlad, not for a second. You've been through a lot, buddy, and I've always been grateful to have you as a friend. So is Maddie; you're probably a better friend to her than I am!

"What would she do without you? You were always the one who helped her through things, stayed with her while she was suffering. You deserve her far more than I do."

Eventually, Maddie walked into the room. She avoided looking at him for a minute, took a deep breath, and smiled. "Is their any improvement?"

"Not much; he's conscious a bit more often, but that's about it." Jack replied. "He's in a lot of pain right now, so maybe it's best. All we can do now is be there for him."

"Look, Jack, about last night…"

"I wanted to apologize for that. I shouldn't have kissed you that way. Any way you can forgive a fool?"

"There's no need to apologize, Jack. I…. I admit, I have some feelings for you. Logically, I know you're a good person, and a good friend, but there have been a bunch of things running through my mind."

"You're afraid?" Jack didn't know what to do about this. Half of him was jumping for joy that she returned his feelings, but the other half was berating him for doing anything about it.

"You know what's happened to me. My father molested me, my mom didn't care, and the only boyfriend I've ever had ended up raping me. It isn't easy for me to open my heart again. I haven't gotten any sleep last night because all of that was running through my mind. Still, I'm sorry for running."

"Maddie, it's perfectly understandable. I'm not mad at you."

"This is not easy for me to say, but… I like you, I trust you, and I'm willing to be in a relationship with you. Just don't push me too hard, ok? I'm still pretty nervous."

"I'm not that kind of person. You mean a great deal to me, and I admit, I have feelings for you as well." Jack was screaming at himself, but at this point, he knew he couldn't back out. If he did, Maddie would be upset and hurt as well, and that was the last thing he wanted.

Maddie moved close to him, and gave him a gentle kiss, her lips brushing against his. Jack felt sparks all over his body and held her close, even picking her up. His tongue explored her mouth, one of his hands in her hair. After nearly a minute, she broke away.

"Wow, you really are a good kisser, Jack." Maddie smiled. "Just be patient with me, all right? What are we going to do about Vlad when he learns of this? I don't want to shove him aside, and he'll probably feel like a third wheel."

"I've never had any luck setting him up on dates, so I'm not really sure what we can do. I'm sure he'll find someone, though." _Assuming he doesn't kill me first. Try to forgive me, V-man, please. _

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Well, that's pretty much the end of it. Hopefully, the story was entertaining and of course, please review.


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